ELA+Kindergarten+Lesson+15

Topic: Sky

Common Core Standards: RL.K.1---With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. RI.K.7---With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear. RF.K.2d---Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme words. RF.K.3c---Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant. W.K.3---Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in order in which they occurred and provide a reaction to what happened. SL.K.2---Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood. L.K.1a---Print many upper and lowercase letters. L.K.2c---Write a letter or letters for many consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes). L.K.6---Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Suggested Student Objectives:
 * Review words that begin with short a, n, f, and b.
 * Review sounds for short a, n, f, b.
 * Write letters Aa, Nn, Ff and Bb.
 * Build background for "What a Beautiful Sky!"
 * Determine the sequence of events.

Suggested Additional Readings: Shapes in the Sky by Josepha Sherman The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola Little Cloud by Eric Carle Splish, Splash by Josephs Sherman It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Resource Links: [|Rainbows] [|Rainbow Unit] [|Space Centers and Activities] [|Objects in the Sky Video] [|Goodnight Moon Unit]

Activities: 1. Looking Up

Ask the students, "What do we see when we look at the sky?" You may want to take the group outside for an observation period and ask them to look around in the dark outside when they get home that evening. Discuss which objects are on the ground and which are in the sky, and talk about the differences between the daytime sky and the nighttime sky. Ask the students to list as many objects in the sky as they can think of and have them draw the objects on pieces of construction paper. Write the name of each object on the corresponding picture, or write them on separate cards and have the students match them to their pictures.

2. Day and Night Ask your students to share their thoughts on how the sky looks different during the daytime and nighttime. Discuss how the Sun is seen during the day, as well as clouds and a typically blue sky and how, at night, the Moon and stars are often seen and the sky looks black. Give students the chance to create their own night and day sky by giving them two sheets of construction paper, blue for the day sky and black for the night sky, and having them illustrate each paper to reflect the daytime and nighttime sky.

3. Cloud in a Bottle [|Experiment]

4. Cloud Drawing Allow your students to make their own white cloud pictures. Provide your Kindergarteners with pieces of light blue construction paper, glue and white cotton balls. Show the students how to stretch the cotton balls to create different cloud shapes. Another art activity is making crayon resist clouds. Draw clouds on white construction or drawing paper using white crayon. Supply the students with a cloud paper, paintbrushes and diluted blue paint. Have each child use the diluted blue paint to paint the paper and reveal the white clouds.

5. Rainbow Milk Activity Create a rainbow milk activity. Inform the children that the milk is not drinkable. Provide each student with a shallow clear container of milk. Don't fill the cup too high. Place a couple of drops of different colors of food coloring in different spots on the milk. Allow the students to dip a toothpick into some dish soap, then dip it into the milk. Your students will see a colorful, swirling surprise.

6. Day and Night Paper Plate Give each kindergarten student a paper plate. Help students divide the plate in half. On one side of the plate, have students draw a daytime sky with details of day such as the sun and a blue sky. On the other side of the paper plate, have students draw the nighttime sky with details such as stars and the moon.

Assessments: Students will take the Unit 3 Assessment.

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